nara

I agree. Anne was guilty of many things, especially cruelty and arrogance. I get that while Wolsey, More, and Catherine were around she was in a very precarious position, but I wonder if keeping quiet and letting the king deal with these folks in his own way would have served her better. Henry ended up blaming her for the loss of key friends (esp. More), which I believe helped turn him against her. However, it still annoys me that she was executed on trumped up charges, rather than being held accountable for her actual faults.

Agree on both counts. Regarding his religious beliefs, I always am a little skeptical of fictionalized accounts of history because they have to take a specific point of view --that's what makes them so compelling. It's hard to know what's historically accurate and what's literary license.

I think he described it himself when he said, "I am a banker." Religion did not really seem to be a motivator for him. I remember being surprised that the guillotine was named for a doctor, until I learned about how painful and cruel the axe executions were--and how often they were botched. Naturally, a doctor would want to reduce suffering. It's amazing how someone who has been portrayed as such a shrill bitch throughout the series can evoke my pity so much. (I cried during her execution.) A real tribute to Claire Foy. Also, this episode really made me hate Cromwell--no matter how sympathetic they tried to make him in the end. I also wished that they had not skipped the men's executions. If I remember correctly, they were supposed to be drawn, hanged, and quartered-- simply having their heads cut off was a mercy of sorts. This whole part would have been great drama. BTW, I don't remember seeing Henry Percy as one of Anne's judges. Why cast Harry Lloyd and not use him in this crucial scene?

You could tweet them and ask if they will share/sell the design for you to have custom made...

Louise heard incorrectly too. She thought Victoria called her puppet, so she went ballistic and betrayed Victoria's location... :)

I vaguely remember a news item from years ago about a drunk guy falling out a window and being unhurt (except minor scrapes) due to the fact that he was relaxed (drunk out of his mind). Also, I think that survival instinct would cause you to flinch at the sight of a man on a horse coming at you with a lance-- and that could be disaster in a joust. Whimsey98 described it well, but I also think the sense of humor back then might have been a little more cruel. I thought that Mary was the older sister. Mary, Anne, then George. Anyone have a historical reference? Also, am I the only one who thinks that the show (and probably the books) are a little unfair to the Boleyns? I know that they were grasping and that Anne pushed Henry to treat Catherine and Mary (and others) in a cruel way. However, he is the king and he decided to be cruel, and to execute Thomas More (who had been an advisor to him) and to treat Cardinal Wolsey badly. I feel like a lot of the fictional accounts tend to emphasize Anne and her family's flaws, but give Henry a bit of a pass for the decisions he makes.

I think this was the weakest of all the episodes so far, because they spent far too long on the Claire and Murtagh follies. It was good, but they should have spent approx half the time it did and used dialog or voiceover to indicate the passage of days, weeks, whatever. I liked seeing Jenny's skills in play. Like Claire, she challenges gender roles--which we didn't really know before. I think she was in pain during the ride because it was so soon after giving birth, but she pushed it aside because of her love for Jamie. Have they said if Jenny is older or younger than Jamie? He's a foot taller than her, but that doesn't mean anything for adults. She seems to be very protective of him, so I'm guessing older, but I wasn't sure if they had specifically said anything. The actors are the same age. I could have done without seens Jenny releasing her milk. I get why it was necessary for her to do, but I didn't feel the need to see it. However, I was wondering how they did that--CGI milk, a prosthetic? I did think it odd that she would just throw it away, rather than drinking it. She doesn't seem to be the type to waste things. But I guess I didn't want to see her drink it either. I liked the discussion on torture and killing of the courier. It's an interesting ethical dilemma for Claire. As much as I like Murtagh's arrival, I would have prefered for Claire to have to make a choice. Murtagh's actions relieved Claire of the responsibility of deciding whether to risk Jamie and let the courier live or kill an innocent man. Some of the song and dance time could have been better spent here. I did like the song and dance concept. Murtagh's dancing was truly awful (or should I say offal) and Claire's singing a little indifferent, but I do like the fact that they saw it as a way to attract Jamie's attention. I wanted to leap through my TV and slap her when she gave her money to the gypsy--but I guess it worked out because the guy felt guilty enough about breaking his word to come find her and give her Dougal's message. I didn't see the big deal about the other troop stealing their song. Couldn't they have followed that group and seen who came to see them, rather than performing themselves? I'm so glad Claire confirmed what I had been thinking--that Dougal deliberately lied to Jamie about his sister's pregnancy to put a wedge between them. And no, there's no way in hell that Claire would ever marry Dougal, but I like that she finally learned not to say what's she's thinking and be clever instead. I thought it was surprisingly tactless for him to go after her before Jamie is even dead. I mean, he's seen that Jamie and Claire are genuinely fond of each other and that she was insulted by his earlier advance on her wedding night. What's the harm in waiting a day or so more for Jamie to be hanged before hitting on her? Another use of some of the time wasted on song and dance? Claire thinking about what she would do if Jamie did die? Go through the stones? Almost certainly. Go back to Frank? Maybe not, considering she had chosen another man over him. Could she ever face him again, let alone live as husband and wife? l liked that Willie was the first step up and support Jamie.

I think there are people who would pay a fortune to have the archaeological and religious treasures in the temple, and the Prof (and maybe Emma) is in a position to know who he can approach discreetly with the offer. Even if the buyer cannot publicly display it, just having it in his/her possession would be enough. It's always bothered me that no real friends or relatives of Emma showed up in Israel after her death. I guess we now know why.

I understood that there were 2 plots - the Moriah trying to bring about Armageddon with Josh, Red, breastplate, etc. and Emma's plan for revenge and continuing her father's work. Emma heard from the archaeologist professor that he was hired to lead the Moriah to the well of souls. Based on what she knew from her father, she pieced together what they were trying to do (bring on Armageddon). In order to exact her revenge, she wanted to publicly shame the professor and kill him, after using him to get the treasures. She knew that invoking the Armageddon protocol would create the opportunity for her to drive the treasures out of the dig. Otherwise, there was no way to get them out. Therefore she needed someone who could get the Armageddon protocol invoked and did research on people. Lynn might have worked, and Golan would have been great since his husband actually knew about the protocol, but Emma thought she would be more successful with Peter, who is somewhat lost after his daughter's suicide. Possibly, she thought she'd appeal to his fatherly instincts by taking advantage of her resemblance to his daughter and dyeing her hair to accentuate it. Since he responded to her sexually instead, she went with it. She planted the bomb and led him to it so that he would arrange for the protocol to be invoked. She made him think that the bomb was related to the Moriah, to make him take the threat more seriously, but they were not involved in that act. She knew that the protocol would be invoked and the city would not be destroyed, but the threat worked for her purposes. However, rather than driving off into the sunset with the treasures after killing the professor, she decided to try to bring Peter along too. And so she got caught. Is my understanding correct?

"What the hell are you talking about, Josh?" made it all worthwhile for me! :) My favorite line in the entire series. Unfortunately, my least favorite line also appeared in this episode: "I never counted on falling in love with you." I would have prefered it if Emma were just using him. :( Kick-ass Lynn, Avram/Red on the farm, finding out the purpose of Golan Cohen's geologist husband -- all highlights.

The red coats may not know who the individual watch members are. McQuaid could turn in Jamie as an individual and split the reward with his team behind the scenes.

I'm curious about what brought you to this forum, since you don't watch the show. You are very welcome, of course, but what made you interested?

100% agree with you. I don't object to them trying to drive traffic to their website and engage people across channels. However, not making sure that CC is available internationally is lazy and shows a complete lack of understanding of multi-channel programming. I was hoping that Abby would kill her mom so that she could "get back to her father" which is of course a completely unrealistic way of thinking...

I thought he was injured and Jamie wouldn't leave him, which is why he got captured. I could have heard that wrong--the accents are sometimes a challenge for me.

Here's how I look at it. Even if their actions don't bring about the real apocalypse, these crazies may have a backup plan, like bombs that detonate around the Middle East, creating WWIII. They would find some way of justifying it... However, I would have liked it if Peter and Golan had explicitly said something to that effect.

A slower paced episode than some of the other ones in the back half of the season, in a good way. I felt like we explored the 4 key characters a little more thoroughly in this one. Claire and Jenny: I really enjoyed the growing relationship between the two women in Jamie’s life, bonding over the difficult delivery—and boy was that a long one. I felt that the process was appropriately visual without being disgusting. I love that Claire’s response to Jenny’s question about her experience with birthing was “I’ve seen childbirth.” Clearly, she has no experience, given that she was a combat nurse, not a hospital nurse. She manages to convey confidence without really lying. Jenny telling Claire to give Jamie the Sawny snake felt like her officially handing her brother over to Claire. The fact that Jenny called her Claire Fraser at the end of the episode and gave her the bracelets left by her mother further accentuated the point. (Though it took be a second to recognize that they were, in fact, bracelets!) Also, I hope that Claire’s pearls were in the trunk send by Mrs. Fitz from Leoch. I had forgotten about them until I saw the bracelets. Claire and Jamie: Had we heard before that Claire was struggling with pregnancy? I didn’t remember that from previous episodes, but it was very sad, especially as we know she loved playing with the kids in Leoch, and she seems to be taken with wee Jamie and baby Margaret. She looked so sad when Jenny described what childbirth is like. :( Their farewell was also very sweet. LOL-Jamie looked like he’d really like for Claire to drag him back by his curls and have her way with him! These two actors do a very convincing job of being in love, IMHO. It does appear that Jamie and Claire are starting to change roles. Now he is the one who’s been reckless in words and actions and she’s going to have to rescue him. The return of Jamie McTavish: Man, it must be tough to always live on the edge and have to be quick on your feet when it comes to making up lies. Jenny is especially good, and does a great job of playfully managing the men of the Watch. You can tell that she’s had to run the household since the time she was a young girl and had many threats with which to contend. Ian: I really liked the development of Ian in this episode. Previously, we just saw him as a chill guy. But I was moved by his desire for the companionship of a fellow soldier, McQuarrie, given that his soldiering days are clearly over. However, his reaction when he actually had to kill a man shows that he is no longer the soldier he once was. Not a bad thing, but life has taken him in a different direction. There has been good kid casting in the series—appropriately adorable! Even baby Margaret Ellen was cute—and I am officially forgiving them for the really fake looking changeling baby 2 episodes ago! Horrocks: Looks like Dougal was right on about the fact that a man who betrays his country cannot be trusted. First he deserted the British Army. Then he joined the Watch and stole/threatened farmers. Then he blackmailed Jamie. Then he set up the Watch. So glad he’s not enjoying himself in Boston—he deserved a horrible end. I realized the trap he’d set for the Watch only 30 seconds or so before Jamie did, and then I realized the true scale of his betrayal. Good riddance. McQuarrie: I was totally expecting him to be a complete jerk, especially since he started the episode holding a gun on Jamie. I like that they made him more nuanced. He is a thief who takes advantage of innocent people. However, he was decent enough to repay Jamie for the burned hay. He did force Jamie to join the Watch, but he didn’t turn him in for the sizable bounty on his head. I didn’t think about how he’s like Jamie until Ian mentioned it, but I do think it’s an interesting concept. Is he what Jamie would have become if he hadn’t met and married Claire? A soldier himself, but leading a band of dishonorable men? I hope he shows up again in future episodes. As for the rest of the Watch, good riddance, especially the creepy one who started the fire.

Ladies and gentlemen, In order to entice you all to watch one last time, I propose the following game: Pick the beverage of your choice. Anytime Peter does something stupid, take a sip. Anytime Lynn shows up with her hair looking messy, take a 2 sips Anytime Peter does something creepily incestuous, take 3 sips. If anything bad happens to Red, drink the entire glass, cup, etc. If Avram kills Josh, treat yourself to the dessert of your choice in celebration. Actually, if any annoying characters are killed, treat yourself. At the end of the episode, come to this forum in whatever state of inebriation/sugar high you're in and post your comments!

I assumed his friend thought he was speaking metaphorically. I was more concerned by the passers-by who saw a man struggling to get out of a trunk and didn't ask if he was okay or anything. I assumed they hired Debbie because they felt a drug addict would be controlled easily. Also, If Josh 1.0 had lived, she might have been very useful in managing him since they had a great rapport. It's not clear to me who brought Peter into the game, though we know Emma works for them. Whoever it is may have needed Lynn in place to manage him. Maybe it's the same people organizing Josh, Red, etc. The Essenes knew Peter was important but I didn't think that they were the ones who involved him... The fact that he slept with Emma is super-disturbing. I'm beginning to believe he molested his daughter--that's the only way his fatherly affection and sexual attraction to a girl who looks like his daughter makes a y sense at all. Also, what is up with us not ever seeing his wife during their phone conversations? Is it just a matter of the show saving a few bucks by not hiring an actress or is she the one who brought Peter into the game? Likes: Avram and Red! I am okay with him killing Josh to save Red. Josh 1.0 would have been a different story. Also like Lynn sleuthing and fighting off that guy (until the woman joined in and bashed her head).

As much as I dislike Christy, if Ben behaved as stupidly as he's behaved over the past few weeks during the entire span of their marriage, I can see how she became bitchy!

He slept with her, is constantly helping her and her son, is clearly at odds with his wife. I think there's enough there to convince her that he might be in love with her. Add some mental instability and the delusion could easily grow stronger.

The shirt was abandoned, as far as he could tell, so it was fine for him to keep it. If someone had accidentally gotten their shirt caught in the wheel, likely the cause of the blockage would not be unknown and the shirt would have been ripped. If there was a man in sight, the red coat would probably have asked if it belonged to him.

Is it really true that water deaths are typically a female MO? I get that with bathtub drownings, but in a river?

I actually liked the Duke of Sandringham and got the impression that Jamie liked him too. (Yes, Jamie didn't want the Duke to make a pass at him, but they seemed on friendly terms at the duel and he seemed quite happy to introduce Claire to him. ) The Duke was kinda flamboyant, but he kept his cool when the McDonald men were being incredibly rude to him, and encouraged Jamie to do the same. Frankly, as a duke, I'm sure that he could have found ways to take revenge on them if he were spiteful. Not a horrible person, based on what we know so far. I believe I read somewhere (maybe in a previous response above) that there was supposed to be a voice over during her deliberation at the stones. It was a poor editing choice to omit it IMHO because the passage of time was too subtle. As for nudity in front of Jenny, yes that would have embarrassed him. Earlier he refers to her talking about his balls as humiliating him in front of his wife. Also, I can't imagine that he ever willingly let his Sister grab him!

Re: Jamie assuming Jenny was pregnant by some random guy, he did say that Dougal told him that Jenny had gotten pregnant by Randall. There's something fishy there. Jenny and Ian got married after he returned from France where he and Jamie were fighting together. Then he married Jenny and they had a child (little Jamie). Therefore, there's no way anyone could really mistake this child for Randall's child (too much time would have passed), and it makes me wonder if Dougal deliberately told Jamie a lie to drive a wedge between him and his sister. I can't think what he'd gain by that, other than keeping Jamie under his control. You are right on about Jamie liking feisty women because of his close relationship with his sister I think that Blackjack's sexuality is more based on fear and violence, rather than regular sexual attraction. For this reason, his sex acts will always be rape/coercion, regardless of whether the target is male or female. It also potentially gives Jamie and Claire a way to defeat him -- laugh at him and don't let him see fear. I also wonder if part of the story will be the continued connection over generation. Blackjack is drawn to Claire and so is his descendent Frank. He's drawn to Jenny (and Jamie) so will Frank eventually meet one of Jenny's descendants? Might be interesting. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense that Claire stayed in the past. She's not the type of person who would crave a safe life. She volunteered to be a combat nurse and refused an opportunity to use Frank's connections to get a safer role. If she went back to Frank, she would have a quiet life as a professor's wife. Even if she stayed in the medical field (and that's a fairly big IF in the 1940's) it wouldn't be the same as being a nurse during the war. In addition to her love her sense of adventure kept her there. (ETA: Chocolatetruffle beat me to the punch on this point!) However, I do think they missed an opportunity for Claire to explain to Jamie why she stayed during their ride to Lallybroch.

And the award for most awkward home coming goes to...Outlander! Man, the reunion was hard to watch, but a good episode IMHO. We're not used to seeing imperfect Jamie, so his high handed behavior was uncomfortable. And Jenny was quite the mega-bitch to Claire, who didn't do anything to her. However, I liked the way the episode played out, with Ian and Claire becoming partners in dealing with the stubborn and feisty Frasers. Also, reunions in real life can be awkward,with people reverting to their old roles and behaviors. Jenny was clearly resentful of this new woman in Jamie's life, since she is evidently used to being the one to influence and teach him. Plus, I had forgotten that Jamie has been an outlaw and soldier for long enough that he missed key laird training years, which we saw in his ineffectiveness in collecting rent and his determination to claim what was his. Learning his role will be challenging for him. Regarding the Blackjack scenes, as usual, they are hard to watch but we needed to hear what really happened to Jenny and Jamie(as part of their reunion) and television is a visual medium. I didn't care for the device of seeing flashbacks in those colors, but I can live with it. I am a little concerned that Blackjack is the super evil villain responsible for all bad things on earth, but I guess the link between him and the Frasers is not that unrealistic given that all the action is happening in a relatively small geographic area (by our standards).